Thursday, March 4, 2010

Oxendine leads early

The early leader in the Republican primary for Governor of Georgia is 'undecided' with 32%. Among the actual candidates John Oxendine has the advantage with 27% to 19% for Karen Handel and 13% for Nathan Deal. The other candidates receive just 2-3% support.

Oxendine's lead would seem more than anything else to be a product of his early name recognition. 66% of likely primary voters have an opinion about him, while just 37% do of Karen Handel and 28% do of Nathan Deal.

There aren't any real ideological fissures developing yet in the candidates' support. Oxendine is up with both moderates and conservatives. His lead over Handel is broader with men (29-16) than it is with women (24-22.)

There's a long way to go in this race and it's certainly plausible any of the top candidates could end up coming out ahead.